October 28th,2012:Trends on the Periodic table(Brian)

Elements close to each other on the periodic table display similar characteristics.
The are 7 important trends:
1) Reactivity
     - metals and non metals show different trends 
     - the most reactive metal is Francium and the most reactive non-metal is Fluorine
2) Ion Charge
     - an elements ion charge depends on their group(column)
3) Melting Point
     - elements in the center of the table have the highest melting points
     - Noble gases have the lowest melting points
     - starting from the left and moving right, melting points increase(until the middle of the table)
4) Atomic Radius
     - the radius decreases going up and right on the table
     - Helium has the snallest atomic radius and Francium has the largest atomic radius
5) Ionization Energy
     - is energy needed to completely remove an electron from an atom
     - it increases going up and right
     - all noble gases have high ionization energy
     - Helium has the highest and Francium has the lowest
     - opposite trend of the Atomic Radius
6) Electronegativity      - refers to how much an atom wants to gain electrons
     - same trend as ionization energy
7) Density